For almost a decade, Cristiano Ronaldo carried Portugal on his back, scoring goals left, right, and center. But the wretched aging caught up to him. He only scored one goal in this World Cup, as Portugal was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Morocco. But one positive thing that came to the fore was against Switzerland, whom they demolished 6–1. They had an unlikely goal scorer in the form of Goncalo Ramos, who bagged a hat trick and was the first person to do so in the tournament until Kylian Mbappe scored a hat trick in the final against Argentina. Ramos came to the fore after his hat trick, trailed by a slew of clubs.
Who is Goncalo Ramos?
Ramos came through the Portuguese youth setup, joining Benfica as a youngster in 2013. He got his promotion to the first team when he scored 15 goals in 37 games while playing for the B team. He is looking to follow in the footsteps of Raul Jimenez and Darwin Nunez, who made their moves to the Premier League. In the 2020/21 season, he could score only seven goals, but this season, after the movement of Darwin Nunez to Liverpool for a reported sum of $100 million, Ramos really stepped up, as he scored nine goals in only 11 matches played.
Ramos playstyle
Ramos plays as a forward, and he can be termed a “modern striker”* because of his intense work rate. He is not afraid to pursue opponents and presses them with purpose. His linkup play with the midfielder is excellent, and he makes active movements that put strikers in scoring positions rather than standing and waiting for the ball.
Standing at 6 ft, the Portuguese is not afraid to go into aerial duels, and he has a strong physique that helps him in maintaining composure.
From the above heatmap, we can see that his actions were concentrated inside the six-yard box. The bright spot indicates where he made most of his actions in the form of passes, goals scored and touches made. His heatmap spreads over the middle third, which is where he made his defensive contributions by tracking back.
Goals scored
From the above visualization, we can see that he leads the goal-scoring chart, and he has an xG of a whopping 8.9. At the tender age of 21, the Portuguese scored nine goals in 11 matches played. He is filling the void that was left by Nunez when he made his move to Liverpool by becoming the top scorer.
From the goal map, we can see that the Portuguese scored most of their goals inside the penalty area. He took 36 shots, out of which he was on target 15 times and converted nine times. He had a 41.7% on-target shooting percentage. He averaged 3.3 per 90 minutes..
Passes made
Ramos is a scorer and provider, as he made one assist. He made a total of 222 passes, of which he completed 95. He had a pass% of 85%. His passes were mostly completed in the final and defensive thirds. He made seven key passes, having made 0.6 key passes per 90, for a percentile of 50%.
Verdict
Goncalo Ramos looks to be leading the lineup this season, as he has become the main man to step up. Clubs would be inquiring about his availability following his heroics in the World Cup. According to ESPN, Man United is looking to approach Ramos following Cristiano Ronaldo’s fallout with the club after his infamous interview with Piers Morgan. Though United are looking at other forwards in the form of Cody Gakpo, they are keeping their options open. Will the young Portuguese replace Ronaldo? All the answers will be clear once the January transfer window opens.
